Villagers Face Drinking Water Shortage

The tube well has become dysfunctional causing drinking water shortage in the area. Photo: Salal Sanjrani

For the past several months, local population of Union Council Kallag, has been denied access to drinking water due to the closure of water supply system.

According to locals, the system closure has caused water crisis in the area as the wells have dried due to drop in the underground water level.

“The system was abruptly shut down by those who are in charge of the system. We are facing an acute water shortage due to their incompetency,” Idrees Baloch, a resident told PakVoice.

The system was installed in 1990s and it remained a useful source of water in the area. It used to provide water to the entire UC residents twice a day for a period of an hour. PakVoice learnt that it was upgraded from diesel engine to the electric motors in 2012 on the demand of locals as water demand increased and the diesel engines remained mostly out of order.

Shaukat Baloch, another resident, while talking to the PakVoices lamented on the district administration’s inefficiency to resolve genuine issues of the local population.

“Everything here that belongs to the government is either dysfunctional or completely abandoned due to continuous neglect. The water supply is a living example of that.

We are forced to travel 2 kilometers to fetch water from agricultural farms. The systems closure has created difficulties for us to meet our water needs,” he said.

Even the water well in the area has gone dry. Photo: Salal Sanjrani

According to Chairman UC Kallag, Abdul Qadir Baloch, he has taken the issue up with district administrative authorities, but so far there has been no progress.

“The fate of the water supply will remain bleak until and unless government prioritizes and addresses the genuine issues of people.”

“Despite emphasis on such issues in the meetings with district local government authorities, we see little being done for their resolution,” he said.

One of the employees of the water supply on the condition of anonymity told Pak Voices that the system has been closed due to unpaid electricity bills.

“WAPDA authorities have disconnected the electric line as bills amounting to thousands have not been paid since the system was upgraded. We are unable to run the system until the connection is restored,” he said.

The residents have called on the authorities to restore the system and ease their burdens of fetching water from far away sources.

Expressing his concern over the situation Idrees Balcoh demanded from the authorities to rectify the situation before the water crisis exacerbates.

“Indeed, it’s the duty of government to fulfill the basic amenities of the masses”, he said.

Salal Sanjrani is a citizen journalist working with PakVoices. He holds a degree in M.A Political Science from GC University Lahore.